Landlords of BHS stores have failed to gain an inside steer on the administration of the retailer.
The Pension Protection Fund, the government-sponsored organisation which represents people seeking to take their pensions from an insolvent company, voted down a large number of landlords and creditors wishing to create a creditors’ committee.
The British Property Federation, representing the commercial property landlords who stand to lose millions in lost rental income, said a creditors’ committee would have brought transparency into the insolvency process.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy real estate at the BPF, said: “In such a controversial and large administration it is staggering that landlords have been denied the chance to form a creditors’ committee, and highly unsatisfactory that the PPF has used its weight in this way.
“We are astounded that landlords have been denied the opportunity to better scrutinise what is going on.”
A spokesperson for the PPF said: “The PPF does not generally support the creation of creditors’ committees, and in the meeting on 22 June our view was shared with the majority of creditors.
“We have a team of experts in place that are working to achieve the best possible outcome for all creditors and therefore we didn’t see the value in forming a separate committee.
“The administrators did not raise any objection to this and we were not contacted by any creditors beforehand to suggest the creation of a committee, as happens from time to time.”
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